Letter: importance of visibilising trans men

I'm writing with a comment/correction regarding your article 'Judicial Review sought of EHRC code' by Simon Nelson, published 14 July 2026.

Whilst the article drawing attention to Translucent's actions was very welcome, nobody is doing trans people any favours by continually excluding trans men or by constantly equating 'trans people' with 'trans women'.

An example:

"The Code as it stands is unworkable, and could lead to the exclusion of many trans people from much of public life, mainly by licensing anti-trans vigilantism ('you don’t look like a real woman')."

The anti-rights lobby is using trans women to establish precedent for removal of certain women's rights (e.g. sports). They are also using trans men to remove others (e.g. reproductive healthcare) because trans men and cis women were both assigned female at birth. This is why Cass focused primarily on young trans men, and why the mainstream media operates a near complete conspiracy of silence about the fact trans men are also affected by these same laws. For your information, there are the same number of trans men and trans women in the UK.

Visibilising trans men undermines most of their arguments. If people saw how TERFs talk about trans men (either irrelevant or as confused silly little girls easily led by friends and TikTok trends, too inane for bodily autonomy especially where it involves fertility and reproduction) they would see what they really think of people they DO view as women. And they would see the end game.

The real reason billions have been spent going after a tiny minority who weren't doing anything.

Because it isn't about trans people. It's about cis women and about everyone in the LGBTQIA+. Two of the largest groups who have opposed cis het white male power. Trans rights are just routes into those rights.

That requires trans men to be invisible though. It requires us to be absent from every article - so people aren't thinking about us. This enables the mainstream media to sell a ludicrously demonised vision of trans women, and places all pressure and focus on them. But the more the pro-rights lobby consents to the erasure of trans men, the more it is complicit in the hypervisible oppression of trans women and the hyperinvisible oppression of trans men and the ultimate loss of cis women's rights and trans and gay people's.

It has to stop. We must do better.

Yours,
Tal Chapman

Editor's comment: Yes, we need to stand up for trans men. Vigilante harassment against trans women, Beth Upton and the like, driven by specifically anti-trans-women groups like Sex Matters and so on, is a big issue, but yes, trans men's rights are important too.